Valentina

An Evening In Indigo Blue | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

31 Mar 2014 6 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #BonnieSmith, #BonnieSmithIndigoBlueArt, #FabricArt, #IndigoBlue, #OliveHydeArtGuild, #RedVoyageIntoColors

Artist Bonnie Smith

Thoughts of the Mind, Interpretations in Indigo

Some evenings are for learning, some evenings are for socializing and some others are for walking in the imagination of an artist to feed my mind. I met Bonnie Smith, fabric artist, through a friend and soon got interested in her fabric creations. Artists hardly do something for no reason at all, or for the pleasure of doing it. The roots of an art creations often hide other motifs than what a viewer might be interpreting.

I walked in a stark white, minimalist room at the gallery Olive Hyde Art Guild in Fremont, Ca and found a strange entanglement of blue strings. Curious and not knowing what all the blue indigo ropes hanging on the walls and sitting on the floor meant, I was compelled to ask for my learning. Modern art is hard to understand without the guide of the artist and without knowing the thoughts, the pain, or joy behind it. This art installation has a touchy personal story, something the artist shared with me in a short interview.

Bonnie: “I was raised in a small town of about 300 people in the East of US. My parents bought a beautiful property and moved there, but we had no idea we were one of the select religious group, I can freely say we are Methodist. As time passed we realized the local people would not let us buy their produce, strawberries, eggs, things they had in front of their house for sale and when we showed up to buy, they would say: “may be another day”, or “eat your dinner over there”….. It went on for a long time and didn’t get any better. Then, I remember we became members of the church and when I was baptized in that church life became easier. One day someone tapped my mother on the shoulder to invite her to the house and allowed us to buy eggs. My parents lived there for 30 years before they left. It sounds very silly, but this is where all this (referring to her art installation) comes from without realizing I had been carrying this weight with me all my life and it has affected my mother a lot for so many years. When I created this art, I explained it to my parents, 84-85 years old this year, but they just didn’t want to talk about. They are still affected by those episodes.

One day, a friend came over while I was playing around with blue indigo, she said the material felt so good in her hands and something in me just clicked. For six months I did nothing but dyeing 60,000 strings and 400 feet of cotton rope in blue indigo. It became an obsession without even knowing where I was heading. Then my youngest daughter asked me what was wrong with me using all that blue, since I don’t even like blue and never wear it. I actually started crying at that point. I explained to her that the blue reminded me of those workers’ clothes, their overalls and the jackets they wore. This is my story of these pieces. My husband created the round disk to hang them up. By the time I finished working, I realized it represents the “Tangled Web Of Thoughts” and I thought the large rope on the floor is my mind understanding as an adult”.♢

I thought the chair with the straight, jagged lines together with the blue color is well representing that stiff society and the uneasy “blue time” Bonnie grew up in.

It’s fascinating how an episode of one’s young life can stay trapped in the soul for years without any consent and then one day explodes in a form of art, finally liberating that person of all the pains.

Exhibit dates are March 16 – April 26, 2014. Where will this indigo blue go from here and will be situated as the artist intended it? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian interior designer in business since 1990. She is passionate about colors and all expressive arts. She is a “colorist”. To her, selecting art means to bring out the best energy of her clients and nourish their soul. She is the author of her book on the subject of colors: ©Red-A Voyage Into Colors available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Floral And Tribal | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

28 Mar 2014 5 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #2014Makeup, #2014SpringFashion, #FloralFashion, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SamRollison, #TribalFashion, 2014Vogue, Altuzarra

This Spring and Summer we are jumping back in ‘60s fashion when flowers and tribal prints seemed to have disappeared in the hippies’ era. People are migrating and the world is moving all around us. We perceive a far away race, its food, colors or traditional tribal symbolism more exotic than our race and we want to wear its flavors. Primitive art, street art, graffiti, and cubist influence it’s all mixed in this season of Spring.
Flowers are for men’s fashion as well. Hawaiian shirts, color block, graphic art have been seen in all runways from Paris to New York.
It feels like the great escape to the end of the earth or just the escape from our daily reality.

divyanshi-verma-A3TAQ_KpP0k-unsplash

Photo: Divyanshi Verma – Unsplash

Makeup is whatever you like it to be: heavy, as the thick ‘80s-style eyeliner, or lite to create a soft and natural look, discreet minimalist look or even a boyish look.

I don’t know how much of this extravagance we will see in the streets, but just like everything else, it is a matter of proportions.
Large flowers or bright colors that sit on a large derrière are not appealing.
A long dress on a short person is dreadful.
Thick heels and chunky shoes make a woman with large calves look very stocky.
A heavy makeup during the daytime is a sign of vulgarity.
Heavy tribal jewelry is OK for the office.

Fantasy in our wardrobe doesn’t hurt. Ultimately fashion must serve the purpose of making us attractive, youthful, à la page and tastefully smart. Ciao,

Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

It’s my hope that through my writing I am enriching your aesthetic sensibility towards design, style and inspire you to live in beauty. I have loved my profession as a fashion- interior designer since my beginning of time.

Check out my latest book on colors ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors, available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles:http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Colors Of Barcelona | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

22 Mar 2014 6 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #BarcelonaColors, #ColorEnergy, #InteriorColors, #InteriorDesign, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #RelaxationColors, Barcelona

Ah Barcelona….! The city of dancing colors, as I call it. I was there last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it was cold, but the amazing colors of the city knocked off the winter darkness from me and made me feel warm inside. Color, style and funky shapes are everywhere. As I am approaching to return, I can see the colors all over again enveloping me in their warm sunny light.

(Click on each photo to view it larger).

The undulating building Architect Antoni Gaudí designed are the quintessential of extraordinary, a precursor of his time who was much criticized for his outlandish ideas of conceiving buildings. Nobody had built anything like that before him and nothing compares to the art of Antoni Gaudí. He left an invaluable and astounding patrimony the world admires breathlessly. The city is happy, colors affect people and their life. They are up all night strolling the streets, eating and drinking through the small hours of the night and I have not found one rude person there!

Every nuance of color has its own taste. The greens are luxuriant, the blues echoes the sea and sky, the reds and the purples are juicy like strawberries and plums. Nothing is dull. In this kind of environment is hard not to live in full colors. If I ought to have a flat in Barcelona, I would decorate it exactly as I made my color scheme palette, modern in style, hip and funky.

(Photo credit is given to each owner of each piece of furniture seen in my board above)

I would use all the colors of energy in the kitchen, dining, great room, and living; I would reserve the colors of relaxation, blues and the greens in bedroom and baths; I would paint in beige, cream and light browns all transition areas, study, and library, but when I get to my home office I would treat it a funky way to make each working day pleasant and playful.

What do you say? Can you handle all these colors throughout the entire home? Or after a while, you would need a detached house to get away from the energy of all these colors? Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Fashion-Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Slimming With Skinny Jeans | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

21 Mar 2014 4 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #ColoredSkinnyJeans, #OldNavySkinnyJeans, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SkinnyJeans, #SpringFashion, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns

Women like skinny jeans, we look good and slim in them. I hope they will be here for a long time.
Can everyone wear them? With a bit of “savoir-faire” everyone can wear them.

Skinny jeans are perfect for the office. Choose a dark color that will give you crisp look, but nothing distressed that will give you a look of sloppiness. Choose jewel tones, blue dark green, or black to wear with a tailored blazer. If you have curves, especially around the hip, choose to wear a longer blazer, a trench coat, or an asymmetric sweater to cover the hip and make you look really sharp.

(Good Length) – (Photo: Polyvore)

Black skinny jeans are for any occasion, from morning shopping at leisure to the office, to a night out, or weekends. The skinny jeans have nothing really special, other than being slimming but the secret is in the hem, which should touch your ankle bone and not being bunched up in that area. Having the skinny jeans hemmed up properly will elongate the figure and then wearing the right shoes will give you that look of “casual finesse”.

(Sloppy) – (Photos found on VanityFair.it)

Hide the parts of the body that are a bit strong and emphasize the beauty or the best parts. If the legs are plump and the derrière full get a larger size skinny jeans and wear them with a tunic, oversize shirt or a longer jacket. Color skinny jeans are also very fun. Old Navy Rockstar Jeans has many colors to choose from.

(Absolutely Not) – (Photo found on http://imageresize.club)

However, the rule applies as always: bright colors on large hips will make them seem larger. Ciao,

Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, working in the USA and Europe. Born in Italy and in a family of artists, style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in each specialization and now she can remodel both home and personal images. She is the author of three books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Inside | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

17 Mar 2014 2 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #CrepeCafé, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #SanFranciscoCrepeCafé, #SanFranciscoTravel, Inside, WordPress Weekly Challenge: Inside

Have you ever tried to see the world in a different direction, upside down or side way? Inside of a room we see our world from the ground up, but what happens if you stand on a table and look at the world from the ceiling down? The perspective will change and so will your horizon.
Last summer, my teenage nephew visiting from Italy and I went to a crêpe café in the city. He had never seen a shop like that before where the crepes are made in front of the customers with their favorite ingredients. The aroma inside of the shop coming from different iron cooking plates was sweet and the waiting was a torture.

While my nephew was watching intrigued by the ability of the people filling and churning the crepes every 3 minutes, I looked up and I saw the customers projected on the reflective ceiling.

There you go, my world in that moment was upside down inside of a crêpe shop and minutes later was inside of a sublime crêpe, poetry for the mouth. Carpe diem! The small pleasures in life are unforgettable, mine came inside of a triangle of small delights. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Thank you for stopping by and reading my feature today. I hope through my blog posts to bring some entertainment and some insights in my busy life, my cooking and everything else I do. Even with my limited time off, I still like to have fun.
Check out my books on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0

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New French Style | Valentina Cirasola | Designer

14 Mar 2014 10 Comments

by Valentina in Friday Fashion Tags: #BillCunningham, #FrenchFashion, #ParisFashionWeek, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #TheNewYorkTimes

I love to watch Bill Cunningham’s short videos, he is a fashion photographer/reporter for the New York Times. He gets us inside the fashion industry and in 2 or 3 minutes he reveals a world of secrets.
During the last fashion week in Paris, he noticed there was an explosion of colors and expressions of diversity among the guests going to the fashion shows, even among people coming from countries where freedom of expression is repressed.

In his 60+ years of going to the Paris Fashion Week, Bill Cunningham has noticed a change in the way French women dress today. They had been known as stylish women, who didn’t go to extremes to be noticed. The adoption of simple lines, conservative style and attention to details is what made French women stylish. Apparently, it is no longer that way, French women are showing a little more freedom in the dress choice, adventure with the combination of odd colors and an unusual extravagance by wearing an evening gown in the daytime. Wow! So, if they get so highly decorated during the day, what do they wear when they go to an important evening event?

Perhaps, this is possible just during the Fashion Week and this is possible because it is Paris, but I don’t really think French women go the buy grocery at the street market, or taking kids to school dressed in evening gowns.

This expression of elegance in the daytime would not be possible in California for sure. California is the land of freedom of expressions in any sense and a very loose region in any sense. Friday is called “casual Friday”. Gosh, I have the impression of dealing with a bunch of people that just came out of the gym or their bed. Banks and stores are full of employees badly dressed and that looseness affects their manners as well.
Feeling good in well-made, stylish clothes pushes the wearers to have elegant manners, the two things are related, I have no doubt about this. Ciao,
Valentina
https://valentinadesigns.com/services#fashion-services

Valentina Cirasola is a trained Fashion and Interior Designer, working in the USA and Europe. Born in Italy and in a family of artists, style surrounded her since the beginning of her life. Her many years of experience led her to offer consultations in both specializations. Valentina offers design consultation online through Skype line and in person. She is the author of three books. Get your copy of Valentina’s book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/qNxXrB
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

I Saw A Zebra At The Bar | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

12 Mar 2014 Leave a comment

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #DebbieBakker, #GameRoom, #KidsRoom, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #ValentinaInteriorsDesigns, #WallArt, Illustrations

How would you like to go to someone’s house and see a zebra comfortably standing at the bar having a happy beer in the game room?

I loved this image when I saw it at the art gallery I visited last weekend. I thought the zebra in cowboy clothes is an amusing creature and it would be an interesting décor for a boy’s room. To tell you the truth, I would like to have it as a mural on one of my walls in the kitchen.

Not knowing if the artist Debbie Bakker at http://www.debbiebakker.com produces murals I was prompted to call her and found out. We had a nice conversation over the phone during which she told me a bit about herself and how she decided to become an illustrator.

Her latest achievement was to study art at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, where she had to decide what kind of art field she wanted to land in. Being interested in children books, she decided to become an illustrator. One of her first illustrations was a dinosaur, which one of her sons wished to have when he was young. Pushed by her husband, her children and the beauty of her illustrations, Debbie decided to reproduce her dinosaurs on wall plates and t-shirts that now she sells on Etsy https://www.etsy.com/shop/DebbieBakkerArt Pretty soon Debbie Bakker will produce posters and perhaps after my suggestions even murals.

Pen, ink and watercolors make her illustrations. http://www.debbiebakker.com/illustrations.html
Debbie’s illustrations struck me as kid’s rooms décor. Other than the usual cars, planes and boats for boys, flowers, butterflies and shoes for girls, there is not much on the market for kids’ rooms. I am always on the look out for new ideas and adventures, I am sure if I brought in one of these pictures, any kids would love it on the walls of their room.

Later, taking a better look of her illustrations, I thought there are plenty “young at heart” like me, who like to play with their décor, those people who like to have a house with character, without following any rules, a house not made with cookie cutters that doesn’t resemble everybody’s style. How about the man’s cave as it is called, a billiard room, or a music room illustrated with these life-size animals with human attitude? I can almost hear them gossiping about us humans.

Let me be your chosen designer who can put star-dust in your décor. I can help you with any style. Your comment is appreciated and I will answer you within 24 hours. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola, is the principal designer and owner of Valentina Interiors & Designs. She is a trained designer and has been in business since 1990. She works all over the world via Skype line and in the traditional in- home consultations producing concepts for remodeling, restoration of historical dwelling, upgrading, décor restyling and home fashion. Vogue magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15 and interviewed on various Blog Talk Radios. Author of three books all-available on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

The Energy Of Your Home | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

08 Mar 2014 4 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #ColorBlack, #HomeEnergy, #HomeOrganization, #ImageConsulting, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #VintagePosters

For some reason an episode that happened in my career a few years ago came to my mind yesterday while I was talking in my monthly radio show. I started to talk about how I helped a client in many aspects of his life just by changing colors. The memory was sweet.

Mark (a given name to disguise his identity), a very nice chap, professional, single and always dressed in black needed a facelift in some parts of his home. He was a neat guy, everything was in its right place, but the energy of the house was not right. In one of our thinking moments, you know, coffee, ideas and notes, he confided that something was missing in his life: a steady woman. I don’t discuss private issues with clients, not unless they start first and if they do, I am always ready to listen, it makes my business a little more human.

seated young woman Pierre-Auguste Renoir

farewell at night Georges Barbier

He confided to be ready for a long-lasting relationship and perhaps marriage. During our conversations, my eyes shifted often on the pictures on the walls, all representing women with their back to the viewers. What is wrong with this? Nothing at all, especially when the paintings are famous and you are not looking for the real woman to settle down with. In the case of my client, the women in his paintings showed their beautiful backs, but the faces were totally hidden, there was no eye connection between him and the women. It was as if they refused his energy to be part of their life, in a figurative way.

I asked him if he was emotionally attached to those paintings and if he was opposed to change them. I suggested shifting the energy by temporarily hanging some pictures of happy looking women smiling, showing their lips, theirs eyes and the full figures in plain front view, perhaps colorful vintage pin-up girls that would bring cheerfulness in his home. We did that and put away the beautiful women’s backs at least for the time being. Looking at new smiling pin-up women everyday was like calling them into his life.

Then we proceeded to change the flow of the home, rearranged furniture, substituted old tired pieces with new ones, added some fresh accessories, new wall colors and real plants that didn’t need much care. The magic happened in his wardrobe. He didn’t know I could create personal images too, or that it is part of my services. For Mark a black shirt was easy to match with a black pants and black shoes, thus easy to get dressed in the morning.

Black is the color that blocks the light and the positive or negative energy from other people. He had the answer to his problems when he heard me speaking these words. In fact he recalled episodes at his work of people being not too friendly with him and keeping away from him. Often he was not invited to social functions because people thought he was single and too busy with different women, in reality the black of his clothes prevented people to get closer to him. In a way the color black made him look too sophisticated or in the eyes of some he was “callus” and not approachable.

The obvious solution to me was to give some colors to his wardrobe and as soon as he started to come out with striped shirts, some prints, elegant solid colors with funky ties and different colors shoes to match with different color pants, his face picked up a new light, a king of positive aura and a new energy. He looked healthier and happier, people started to get closer to him because the changes opened up a friendly path, people felt invited and so did the woman of his life. Six months after this major change, the right woman appeared and they got married. That was his goal and my goal was to create a positive energy in the house and around his image.

Many people treat a home just like an investment without caring much of the content and cleanliness. Often I go into dirty and untidy homes, where I could write the story of my life on the dust of their furniture and where I can smell the fish or the bacon cooked many days before. A home has a soul and not just your soul, the walls and the upholstery breathe all the smells of the house, from perfume to fried food. Dirty windows will block the positive energy from coming in. Organized closets and drawers will help you simplify any chores. The colors of your home will depress you or make you happy, they are that powerful and the right lighting…..will illuminate you! Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15. Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Welcome Colors | Valentina Cirasola | Interior Designer

05 Mar 2014 8 Comments

by Valentina in Home Designs Master Tags: #FallColorSchemes, #HarmonizingColors, #RedVoyageIntoColors, #WarmColorPalette

During the cold months when everything is covered in white in all tints and tones I was thinking of putting some colors in my wishes. There are are in fact many flavors around me and each has its own color and texture. (Click on the photo to see it larger).

Playing in my box of buttons, in my trunk of yarn and with my colorful hand-painted ceramics, I was calling a new client with a love for colors and so it happened. One day I received a private message on Facebook from a person I didn’t know who was asking questions about my on-line design consultations. She had followed me for a while without my knowledge. We connected on Skype and like magic it happened.

Doing a heavy lifting in the house is easy when people know how to coordinate the big items with all the small details, otherwise it could be overwhelming. I was called to restore the harmony of the house with warm colors and to reproduce the client’s summer-fall season of her skin.

She likes Opera, but has never been to an Opera House to watch an opera live. Just like in my wishes I called a person with the love of colors, I thought perhaps if I add an opera libretto in my color palette will take her closer to the opera and make her wish come true. It’s really true whatever you manifest will happen. Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Valentina Cirasola is an Italian Interior Designer working in the USA and Europe since 1990. Often people describe her as “the colorist” as she loves to color her clients’ world and loves to create the unusual. “Vogue” magazine and many prominent publications in California featured Valentina’s work. She also has made four appearances on T.V. Comcast Channel 15.
Author of three published books, the latest ©RED – A Voyage Into Colors is on the subject of colors.
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w

Oscar Night Party | Valentina Cirasola | Author and Designer

02 Mar 2014 7 Comments

by Valentina in The Good Life Tags: #Oscar2014, #OscarFashion, #OscarParty, #RedVoyageIntoColors

“Let’s get dressed up, bring a dish to share and let’s watch the Oscar”.
This was a common invitation to receive every year from one of my friends to watch the Oscar nominations on T.V. in her home. She is a huge fan of films and entertainment.

On the day the Oscar would play on T.V., the host of the party would roll out a red carpet outside her home entry as wide as her pathway. Her neighbors knew she was a lively person by the way she externalized her emotions. The Oscar to her was a big celebration, perhaps in another life, she had been an actress and felt a tight connection to Hollywood in this life.

The idea was to feel the heat as if we had been invited to real Oscar. On that day we went to the motion of taking super care of our appearance, we spent time to the beauty parlor, hair, nails, and make-up and we spent weeks to shop for the right dress, because at the end of the evening show on T.V. one of us among the girlfriends invited was going to win a prize for best-dressed woman. Hence it was important to play the part right and to get dressed up to the teeth.

By 5:00 pm we walked on that red carpet, not in Hollywood but in an upscale neighborhood, where we made our own public display and the neighbors had the chance to scrutinize us as if we were the stars before the show. Some women even came in a limousine, just to play the part right.

We networked in the dining room before the show to catch up with each other or meet new people, we prepared food, drink and made a mess. A soon as the show started we sat in the living room and followed the nominations marking our choices on a piece of paper. The person who had all the answers right would win a prize: a bottle of wine, a gift certificate to a shop, one hour of massage in a spa, in other words, a useful gift.

We felt glamorous in our little play and it was a way to break the routine while enjoying a common activity like watching T.V.

Five years ago the economy changed the life of a lot of people. Some of those girlfriends moved away, some lost their jobs, some got a divorce and some found a new love. The Oscar party is now a happy memory. I might just start my own!

It would be interesting tonight to see faux pas and elegance walking together on the same red carpet. I think Philomena with Judi Dench will win the Oscar. What do you think? Ciao,

Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com

Being born in an Italian family of artists and designers, style has surrounded my life since a young age. I do offer consultations on personal image. I am the author of three books. Get your copy of my book on colors: ©RED-A Voyage Into Colors on
Amazon: http://goo.gl/xUZfk0
Barnes&Nobles: http://goo.gl/q7dQ3w